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Eriogonum abertianum

Ethnobotany. According to the book “The Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navaho” (Vestal, Paul A., 1952, Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology), Eriogonum abertianum was used – in decoction – as a lotion for skin cuts of horses and human beings.

Diversity. Jim Reveal did not describe the different varieties of this species. Nonetheless, Raymond Fosberg in “Eriogonum and its varieties” (published in “Madroño” in 1938) described them and the descriptions are posted below the following pictures.

Selon Baskin et al (1993), “Nondormant seeds of the desert winter annual Eriogonum abertianum germinated to 86 and 79% in light at 15/6 and 20/10° C, respectively, but to only 3, I, and 0% at 25/ 15, 30/15, and 35/20 ° C, respectively.”

In Oecologia (1997), l’article “Interactions between winter and summer annuals in the Chihuahan Desert”, Guo and Brown cites Kemp 1983 and Inouye 1991: “The three biseasonal species (Eriogonum abertianum, Haplopappus gracilis, and Baileya multiradiata), germinated in fall and winter, but unlike the winter annuals, individuals survived through the spring droughts (Fig. 1). Although mortality during this period was often severe (sometimes >95%) and the surviving rosettes lost their outer leaves, the surviving plants grew rapidly in response to the first summer rains. In years when mortality during the spring drought was relatively low, the surviving plants, because of their size advantage and well established root system, were often able to dominate the summer annual plant community in terms of both individual plant size and total species biomass”.

Dr. John Torrey described Eriogonum abertianum in Major Emory’s “Notes of a Military Reconnoissance” (p. 151, 1848).

The plant is an annual, ordinarily dichotomously or trichotomously branched near or above the base, canescently tomentose to villous, with campanulate involucres bearing many flowers ; the perianth parts are in two series, the outer three expanded, more or less orbicular, membranous-scarious, covering the narrow inner ones. This species is closely related to E. pharnaceoides Torr., differing in the pubescence, the leaf shape, and in the more expanded outer perianth segments which are thinner and more scarious. It is also related to E. ovalifolium Nutt., from which it differs in being an annual, in the pubescence and shape of its leaves, and in the open rather than condensed inflorescence.

A study of material from the Mesilla Valley, New Mexico, indicated that there were two different entities which keyed, in the Flora of New Mexico by Wooton and Standley, to Eriogonum abertianum. In the synonymy was given the name Eriogonum cyclosepalum Greene (Muhlenbergia 6: 1. 1910) the description of which seemed to fit one of the Mesilla Valley plants. The remainder of the material agreed better with E. pinetorum as described by Greene in the same paper than with Eriogonum abertianum Torr. as interpreted by him.

In an effort to settle the problem, Eriogonum abertianum and related species were studied in the herbaria of Pomona College, California Academy of Sciences, Los Angeles Museum, and the University of California, Berkeley. The material examined included isotypes and cotypes of E. pinetorum Greene, E. cyclosepalum Greene, E. arizonicum Gandoger, Eriogonum abertianum var. neomexicanum Gandoger, and Eriogonum abertianum var. ruberrimum Gandoger. Dr. Gleason had photographed for me at the New York Botanical Garden the type of Eriogonum abertianum in the Torrey Herbarium.

As shown by these photographs, Dr. Torrey had at hand only one sheet which bears material collected by Abert. This sheet contains two specimens, one a small fragment of the top of a plant, labelled “July 17, Lt. Abert,” and another marked “Oct. 14th, 1846, Emory.” A careful study of Emory’s Report shows that on July 17 Lieutenant Abert was near the junction of the Pawnee River with the Arkansas River, in Pawnee County, Kan- sas, considerably out of the present range of the species, and on October 14, Emory was along the Rio Grande, apparently in Sierra County, New Mexico. Both of these plants seem to be Eriogonum abertianum var. neomexicanum Gandoger. The other sheet in Torrey’s herbarium bears four specimens. The plant on the left of the sheet, no. 1, collected in August by Dr. Bigelow from “Near San Diego (Vail, of R. Grande)” is Eriogonum abertianum var. bracteatum. The remaining three specimens should all be referred to Eriogonum abertianum var. cyclosepalum. They were collected in Mexico by Dr. Parry: no. 2 at Chihuahua; nos. 3 and 4 from Janos [Janas?], northern Chihuahua. All of these plants were named simply ” Eriogonum abertianum” by Torrey.

The groups of plants in this complex are best treated as varieties of a single species, Eriogonum abertianum Torr., because of the insignificance of the characters in which they differ. Miss S. G. Stokes (The Genus Eriogonum, 36. 1936) recognizes subsp. typicum and subsp. lappulaceum, considering other described segregates as mere ecological variations. The varieties treated in this paper, except var. lappulaceum would be included by her in subsp. typicum. Since these plants as observed in the field do not behave as ecological variants, I cannot agree with her treatment.

Similar to var. neomexicanum but with peduncles mostly under 0.5 cm. long; flowers just as numerous in the involucre, but not so far exserted, heads very compact, 5—6 mm. in diameter; outer sepals 1.5—2 mm. broad, nearly circular, dark reddish in color.

3. Eriogonum abertianum Torr. var. villosum var. nov. Erect plant, up to 4 dm. tall, more or less white villous, more so in young plants, stem usually not branched at base, dichotomously or trichotomously (often several times) branched above, floriferous ordinarily at upper nodes only leafy to the top, the leaves somewhat smaller above, but not conspicuously reduced; leaves oblong-ovate, acute to obtuse at apex, truncate or at least abruptly contracted at the base; petioles 2—3 cm. long on lower leaves, becoming shorter above to about 0.5 cm ; peduncles solitary in the upper axils, rather robust, usually 2—6 cm. long (very shortin material collected at Douglas, Ariz., by L. N. Goodding, May 22, 1907); involucre solitary, 3 mm. high, 3 mm. in diameter, turbinate, with ovate-lanceolate lobes about as long as the tube ; flowers many, exserted on rather long pedicels, the spherical inflorescence 1—1.5 cm. in diameter; outer sepals 2.5—3.5 mm. broad, nearly circular, slightly broader than long, with a narrow sinus at the base, membranous-scarious.

Very similar to var. villosum in general appearance and in pubescence but branched at base, depressed in habit, 1 dm. or less tall, floriferous to the base; peduncles 1-3 cm. long; involucres turbinate, the tube 2 mm. high, 3 mm. in diameter, the lobes very large, more or less spatulate with rounded apex, 6—10 mm. long, 1-2 mm. broad; flowers many, the cluster 1-1.5 cm. in diameter; outer sepals 3.5—4 mm. broad, nearly circular but slightly longer than broad, membranous-scarious, yellow tinged with red.

Plant branched at the base, soft villous, green in color, branches ascending, many times dichotomously or trichotomously branched, floriferous often almost to base, forming usually a small rounded plant, ordinarily not more than 2 dm. tall, but when in very favorable localities reaching a height of 4 dm. ; leaves small, the lower short-petioled, ovate, usually obtuse at apex, attenuate at base, rapidly reduced to narrowly lanceolate, sessile bracts above, these seldom over 1 cm. long, but quite abundant ; peduncles mostly about 5 mm. long, in axils from top often practically to base of plant ; involucre small, turbinate, 2 mm. high, 2 mm. in diameter, with oblong-lanceolate lobes 4—6 mm. long, few-flowered; flowers exserted on rather long pedicels, the spherical inflorescence 5—10 mm. in diameter; outer sepals 3-3.5 mm. broad, nearly circular, slightly broader than long, with a narrow sinus at the base, membranous-scarious, yellow, tinged with red.